Kim Jong Il’s eldest child — a daughter — Seol Song lives in the shadow of her three male siblings. Her mother, a daughter of a high-ranking military official, was handpicked to be Kim Jong Il’s partner. But she would be shunted aside in later years. According to reports, Seol Song remained ever loyal to her father and supervised many of his official trips, accompanying him regularly.
After Kim Jong Il: A Look at the Kim Family Tree
The heavy-jowled Kim Jong Un looks poised to succeed his father. But he was not always the most likely: TIME looks at those in the Kim clan who may have had (or still possess) designs on the Hermit Kingdom's top job.